Dawn's Innocence
by bigdogneversleeps
Summary: Formerly known as The Birth Of Love, a series of events leads to the belief that Ash and Dawn have done the deed. Dawn decides to keep up the ruse, as a supposed joke, but Ash feels that there is more to the story... Contains AshxDawn, Pearlshipping (REUP FOR ADOPTION)
1. Chapter 1

This is my first fanfiction, and it is the first of a running saga that it is my honor to present. It involves Pearlshipping mainly, but others may manifest. I will update often but infrequently, so that I'm not predictable but captivating. Have a fun read!

**Disclaimer: **I have no rights to anything involving Pokemon and the characters, and while the story arc is mine, a significant plot point used was inspired by sykilik101 and their story I Don't Mind.

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><p>Dawn wanted to go swimming. Why? No reason in particular. But for some reason, she was determined to go swimming that night. Maybe it was because it was going to be a nice night. Maybe it was that she hadn't been swimming in forever. Maybe it was a reward to herself for winning her fourth ribbon a few days ago. She didn't know, nor did she care. She was going to go swimming. Even if the guys were inadvertently trying to stop it from happening.<p>

Dawn had decided around lunch time that she was going to swim on the river that was just beyond the woods next to the trail they were on. But by 6 o'clock, the group had realized they were lost. Again.

Brock turned to Ash with an irritated look on his face. "I told you that we were going the wrong way." Brock shook his head. "This is the last time I am ever going to listen to your directions."

Ash smiled, "Aww, come on Brock. You don't know that for sure. If we keep going…"

Brock stopped him. "No, Ash, we are definitely going the wrong way." He points to the map in his hand. "This says we are going to the middle of nowhere."

Dawn piqued in," How do you know for sure Brock?"

He points to the river that she wanted to swim in later. "Well, we are still next to the river over there," he then points to the map, "and the map shows that nothing is on this side of the river. No towns, no Pokémon centers, nothing!"

Dawn was afraid to ask, but she had to. "How far back would we have to travel to actually get going where we need to go?"

Brock took a minute to calculate the time. "About… 2 days."

Dawn and Ash dropped. "Two days?" They both exclaimed. Ash get back up, "How is it two days? We have only been walking this way for a couple hours!" Dawn nodded her head.

Brock shook his head," Actually, it's been closer to 8 hours. And we were walking downhill the entire time. So about two days sounds right" Ash and Dawn groaned loudly.

Brock continued on. "I think we should set up camp here for the night, and we can get to walking first thing in the morning."

Dawn groaned again, but quickly perked up. She realized that she would definitely have the chance to swim tonight! She squeaked out loud, loud enough so Ash and Brock turned to look at her. Dawn turned a bright red, embarrassed that they had actually heard that. There was an awkward silence, with everyone unsure of what to say.

Ash broke the silence. "Was that…a squeak, Dawn?"

"Wha…Wha…What are you talking about, Ash?" Dawn was still red.

"I'm pretty sure that was a squeak, right Pikachu?" Ash turned to Pikachu, who nodded in agreement. "So what was that squeak about, huh Dawn?" Ash got close to Dawn, trying to make her uncomfortable. Surprisingly, to Dawn, she wasn't bothered at all at how close he was.

"Um, nothing Ash. Nothing at all." She became pink at how much she was blushing. She didn't want them to know she was going swimming. Ash might take it is an opportunity for training, and Brock would probably say that they should spend the time sleeping rather than swimming. But honestly, it was for another reason. Though Ash didn't realize it since he was so dense, and Brock wouldn't care since he was so much older, Dawn realized that was growing into a woman who was pretty hot. Though she was pretty sure that they wouldn't, for said reasons, she didn't want them to be looking at her, like that.

"Mmm hmm. Right Dawn," Ash didn't believe her. He knew for a fact she squeaked. He just wasn't sure why, but…wait a minute, unless it was because…

"You were laughing at me for getting us lost, weren't you!" Ash yelled at her.

"No, I wasn't." she yelled back. She thought for a moment, and slapped him in the face to boot. That took the wind out of Ash, and he began to rub his red cheek.

"What was that for?" he asked, almost innocently.

Dawn looked at him, dumbfounded. "Hello, you yelled at me, in my face!"

Ash just stared for a second, and looked at his feet, "I'm sorry Dawn. I didn't mean to yell in your face." He kept looking at his feet, with a kind-of guilty look on his face. Dawn almost felt guilty too. Almost guilty enough to apologize. ALMOST guilty enough.

"Well you did." Dawn wanted to keep yelling at him, but she saw Ash's face again. Now she felt guilty enough to apologize. Somehow, she managed to blush again. "It's ok, Ash. I still shouldn't have slapped you." She smiled at him. "Friends?" She asked.

Ash looked up and shook his head. Dawn frowned. Not…friends? "Best friends!" Ash said this while wearing a huge grin. Dawn grinned too, and they did their high five. Dawn and Ash kept grinning while Brock shook his head.

"Hey guys, if you want dinner, then help me set up camp for the night." Ash always wanted food, so he was quick to help. Dawn was slower, but that was because she was thinking of when she could sneak off to swim. She figured she would have to wait until after they all fell asleep, which she hoped would not be too late.

A few hours later, her hopes were right as she head the snores of Ash and the sleep-talking of Brock. She began to laugh at some of what Brock, pretending not to know how dirty it was. That was the exact reason why she didn't want Brock to see her in a bikini. She did not want Brock to be talking like that about her in his dreams. That would just be creepy. She knew that he would never purposely think like that about her, but in his dreams, he had no control of what he thought about. Dawn shivered at the thought. He grabbed her backpack with her bikini and towel in it and snuck out of her tent. She checked to make sure that both Brock and Ash were asleep in their sleeping bags, and not just half-sleeping. She didn't want to accidentally wake them up and have them follow her. Once she was sure that they were actually asleep, she made a quick pit stop, and put her Piplup into his pokeball. She didn't want him to wake up and alert the others of her escapade. Finally, sure that there was no way she would be caught, she left for the river.

She reached it with no issues, and took off her beanie, socks, scarf, and boots. She then reached into the bag and grabbed her first bikini that she had with her and was disappointed. She hadn't even realized that something was wrong with it, but there were huge gashes in the fabric, making it useless. The size of the gashes reminded her of the Peck attack of a certain Piplup that she knew. She would deal with him later, but for now, she went to the back-up plan, another bikini. She had taken off her vest when she realized something embarrassing. There were no changing rooms in the wild, no place for privacy, no place where she could hide herself from unwanted eyes. She looked for anything that could resemble a shelter, but nothing fit. She debated with herself if she should just do a quick change in the open, and she weighed the pros and cons. She would be (she blushed at the thought)… well clothes less in a spot where people could see here, but who was there to look? Ash and Brock were asleep, and no one else would be dumb enough to go this far out of the way. Except for Team Rocket, of course. Team Rocket would do anything for Ash's Pikachu. What if Team Rocket saw her? She thought about it for a second. Meowth wouldn't care probably, and Jessie was a girl herself, so that wasn't an end of the world situation. And for James… well, Dawn had come to the conclusion that James was either with Jesse or gay, so there was no reason to worry that much there. It was settled. Quick change it was.

She did quickly change into her bikini and was shocked. It didn't fit her! It was too small, but not as in a bad way. Her hips were too big and her chest too large for the bikini. Now that she thought about it, it made sense. That was a bikini she had used back when she was 10, and she had grown some, so of course it wouldn't fit. "Crap" was all she could say. She couldn't go swimming that day. She didn't want to swim in her underwear since it had given her a rash the last time she had tried it. So, resigned to defeat, she took off the too small bikini and began to get dressed again to go back to the camp. Right as she began, she had a thought. _Do I really have to go?_ She realized she could always, well, swim like she was right now. Le natural. She gave it more thought, and realized that it would probably be perfectly ok, for the same reasons she had made before. Blushing at her actions, she put her clothes down, got a towel right next to it, and began to go swimming.

Dawn was fully into the swimming, as it was exactly what she needed. She was still being careful as to not let too much be visible, in case someone did happen to pass by, but she had all the fun she needed. But on the shore, something terrible for her was occurring. A clan of Burmy's coats had been destroyed by a flamethrower from a wild Monferno, and they were on the hunt for some new materials that were more resistant, when they happened upon Dawn's clothing, which they thought was perfect. One of the leaders used Bug Bite to tear them up so that everyone could get some, which they did. They happily took every scrap of clothing from the pile, and the towel, and left, fully protected. Unlike Dawn.

Around then, Piplup had a nightmare and escaped his pokeball to get comforted by his master, Dawn, but to his surprise she was gone! He began to cry, which woke up Pikachu. Piplup told Pikachu, who then hurried over to Ash, and shoved him a few times to wake him up. Ash kept snoring, so Pikachu was preparing to hit him with a Thunderbolt, but Piplup beat him to the punch, using a Bubblebeam to wake up Ash. Ash got mad at his rude (and very early) awakening.

"What the heck was that for, Piplup?" Ash yelled as softly as he could, aware that Brock was still asleep.

"Pikapi! Pikaka Chukachu!" (Ash! Dawn is missing!") Pikachu told Ash frantically.

Ash bolted up "What! Dawn's gone! You sure, buddy?" Pikachu and Piplup nodded. Ash got on his shoes and began to run into the forest, and began to call out Dawn's name.

Dawn meanwhile had just finished swimming and had gotten out of the river. _That was exactly what I needed_, she thought to herself. She went to get her towel when she realized, no towel. Or clothes, in this case. Dawn began to freak out at this. She began to run from rock to rock, seeing if her clothes were actually there, but she had no luck. "Crap." She was thinking over and over again. She went to her bag, to see if she remembered to bring anything else, but no luck. She had no clothes, in the middle of the wild, and had to walk through a path full of thorn bushes and what not in order to get back to camp. What could make this any worse?

"DAWN!" She heard her name yelled, but hoped it wasn't for her. "DAWN!" She knew that voice, and was praying she was wrong. "DAWN!" Ash yelled again, and said the first cuss word she had ever used in her life.

"Fuck!" she yelled, surprised at herself. She never thought she would use such bad words, but under these circumstances, it was understandable. One of her best friends was about to find her without any clothes on. Her search for anything, anything, to cover herself with became frantic. She didn't notice a Gloom hiding in one of the bushes, and she accidently hit it. Hard. Hard enough that it tried to protect itself with a Stun Spore. It hit Dawn right in the face, and she fell over, paralyzed. She landed on her side, as stiff as a board, literally.

She was now completely vulnerable, and had no way to cover herself from Ash. Everything but her hearing was paralyzed, so all she could do was listening as Ash got closer and further away until he was almost next to her. Finally she got movement in her head and neck, so she turned to where she heard Ash and yelled at him to advance no further, but it was too late. Ash had already walked through the final clearing and was facing a vulnerable Dawn.

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><p>So this is where I leave off for Chapter One of this saga, with an idea of its direction but no definitive plans. Hope you review!<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

So here is part two. sorry for the delay, but it took me time to get where I wanted to get before I published. Hope you enjoy Part two!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokemon, but I hate admitting it

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><p>Dawn knew she had a totally red face, and she saw Ash did too. He was just standing looking at her, not even blinking. Somehow, Ash snapped out of his trance and managed to ask her why she wasn't moving.<p>

Dawn was shocked. Ash had managed to ignore the really obvious question. In fact she was impressed by his restraint. "I think it was a Gloom, it sprayed something and made me paralyzed."

Ash nodded his head, still staring. Dawn was surprised at her reaction to this. Somehow, she knew that he was not looking at her there, or he wasn't doing it like Brock would. Somehow, it comforted her. Still…" Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I borrow your shirt?"

Ash looked confused at the request for a second, but quickly got the message. He took off his shirt, and went over to where Dawn laid. He looked at her, and she realized what he was trying to ask. How was this going to work? She was still paralyzed, but she needed to get the shirt on. Eventually, she blushed and told him," I guess you need to put it on for me." Ash blushed again. He nodded in agreement. He sat her up, and raised her arms up. He slid his shirt over her, trying not to brush against her. He still messed that up, and when he grazed her, he stopped and blushed. Dawn blushed too, but told him to hurry up. He nodded and finished putting the shirt on Dawn. It was big enough on her to cover what needed to be covered, so both Dawn and Ash relaxed.

Finally comfortable, but oddly disappointed as well, Ash turned to Dawn. "What were you doing out here? Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Dawn blushed. Say what you will about Ash, she thought, but he did care for her a lot and about her well-being.

"I had wanted to take a swim all day, so I decided to do it when you guys were sleeping." Dawn responded truthfully. Ash just nodded.

Ash blushed again, and tried to hide his face, but Dawn saw it. She cocked her head and asked, "What are you red about, mister?" Ash giggled a little. Dawn got a little mad at that cute laugh of his. She stopped, realizing she said it was cute. Shaking off the feeling, she focused on Ash. "Well?"

Ash turned to look at Dawn. "It's not really my business to ask, but why… how come…" He stopped and thought for a moment. Dawn found that she had some feeling in her hands, so she repositioned herself, so that she was looking directly at him. He saw this and ended up clamming up.

"Why was I out there with nothing on?" She finished his thought. Ash nodded; thankful he didn't have to say it. "Well, one bikini Piplup destroyed, and the other was too small for me, since it was an older one." All Ash could do was nod his head. He had been expecting more, but Dawn stopped there.

"How come you didn't just, you know, keep on your… your … your underwear and stuff." Saying that made him the reddest he had been all night. Dawn realized that too, and laughed in her head. He was more embarrassed to say underwear than seeing his best friend naked.

"Well, I didn't think of that." She lied to him. She did not want to go into details about the rash. Ash understood, and then suddenly looked around.

"Dawn, where are your clothes?" he asked "You know, the ones you came here with. Unless you walked here… without them…"

Dawn waved her hands best she could. "No, no, no. I had them and stuff, but they just…disappeared." Ash was about to say something when the clan of Bury came through the opening, each cloaked by a piece of Dawn's clothing, obviously torn to shreds. Seeing this made Ash laugh. It was a sight to see. Dawn just groaned at them. She yelled at them, "Thanks a lot guys. Could have left me something, you know!" This made Ash laugh more, and got Dawn mad. "What are you laughing at, Ash!" Ash kept laughing until he saw Dawn's serious expression.

"Come on, Dawn. You have to admit that is pretty funny!" He put on his big Ash grin, which pretty much forced Dawn to agree. She nodded in defeat, and realized that she had feeling in her legs, which meant they could finally leave. She went to tell Ash, but Ash had stood up and was looking around. She was confused by what he was doing, but figured it out when he reached behind a rock and pulled out her boots, untouched by the Bury assault.

"Found your boots, Dawn!" He grinned, showing them to her. She laughed, thankful that he had found those. While she had a few pairs of clothes, she only kept one pair of boots with her, and she needed them for all the walking they did. She went to get up, but was stopped by Ash. "Hold on, Dawn. You don't have to rush it." He handed her the boots. "Here, put these on, and I will carry you back to the camp." She put them on quickly, and grabbed her backpack, but as she was about to object to being carried, she was lifted into the air by Ash, and he started walking towards their campsite.

While they were walking, Dawn made two realizations. First, Ash had a good body. Normally, she would have never noticed, but since he was shirtless, and she was pressed up against it, she noticed it. It was very firm… and comforting. It felt nice to Dawn. It was then that she realized where his hands were. One wrapped around her back and arm, while the other wrapped around her legs and his hand rested very close to her…lady parts. She whispered something in his ear, and he blushed. He slid his hand away from there, far enough for Dawn to be comfortable. They kept walking towards camp.

They had begun a conversation about what the Burmy's had done, and why they thought they took her clothes when they walked up to camp with a pacing Brock. He goes to say something, but realizes that Ash wasn't wearing his shirt. Dawn was. And she did not appear to be wearing else. Ash and Dawn realized what he sees, and start blushing. They were both thinking the same thing. What do we tell Brock? Dawn turned to Ash, and with only their eyes, they make an agreement to just say nothing right now. Brock tries to say something, but is ignored by them both as Ash puts Dawn in her tent. Brock goes to say something, but decides to wait until the morning to say it. Right now, he was too tired.

As Ash lay Dawn next to her sleeping bag, he got nervous. What do you say after that? Where do you go as friends, after he saw her…well, naked? Dawn was thinking along the same line. What can you say? As she dug into her other bag for clothes, she realized Ash was still there. Ash realized it too, and had to make an excuse for why he was still there. "Can I get my shirt back?" He asked her, saying the first thing that popped into his mind. He then realized what it would mean, and backtracked. "Forget it; I can wait to get it in the morning." Ash went to leave, but he felt a tug on his pants.

"Hold on, just wait there for a second." Dawn quickly pulled on her underwear, took off his shirt, and got on one of her shirts quickly. "You can turn around now." He turned around and saw Dawn fully clothed. It was weird, seeing her with clothes, after seeing her… without. He was almost disappointed. He saw the outstretched shirt, and he grabbed it from Dawn. He quickly put it on, and gave her a smile. She smiled back. They just smiled at each other until Ash realized he needed to go asleep.

"Um, good night Dawn." He began to back out of the tent.

"Good night Ash." Dawn responded, still smiling. Ash was out of the tent, and getting ready to turn to his bag, but... he had to say what was on his mind. For some reason, it felt right.

"Um, Dawn?"

"Yeah?" She looked up at him

"You're beautiful." Ash blushed as she said this, and left the tent.

Dawn thought about what he said for a second. _He thinks I'm beautiful._

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><p>So there is part two. Hope you like the development in the story. Sorry if you feel it is a bit short, but this is as far as I wanted to go for this chapter. Please review, I want more input. See you soon!<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry for the delay, but I had to make sure I was where I wanted the story to be. Is an interesting twist, hope you enjoy.

Update:Had to changethending, as I realized it did not mesh with the plot of the next chapter. sorry for the inconvience. 11/30

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon... damn it!

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><p>The next morning, Ash and Brock woke up about the same time, with Dawn still out cold. When they sat up, they had eye contact which made Ash turn away. He didn't want to talk about what had happened with Brock, but Brock was having none of that. As Ash went to get up, Brock called out to him.<p>

"What happened last night with you and Dawn?" he asked, with a grin on his face. He doubted it, but it would be really funny if it was that. Ash ignored him, and went to get on his shirt. He planned on talking about with Dawn and figuring out how to deal with it first before mentioning anything to Brock, but Brock wouldn't stop.

"What could you two have possibly done to make that situation make sense?" Brock pondered aloud, with the intent of annoying Ash. "Is there any real explanation besides the obvious one?" Ash stopped what he was doing, confused what Brock meant by "the obvious one."

"What do you mean the obvious one?" Ash turned to him, focused on his response

Brock grinned again. He knew for sure that THAT had not happened now, but he knew that he could really make Ash squirm, and it was the perfect payback for him getting the group lost. "Well, you know… You did it last night," Brock chuckled, knowing that Ash would miss what he was implying," so could you tell me this much. How good was it? Was it fun?"

Despite Brock's assumptions, Ash wasn't as dense as he used to be. He caught what he was implying, and got angry at Brock. He couldn't believe what he was implying. Ash wasn't even ready for that, and Dawn was still too young. He contemplated what he should do to Brock for suggesting that. He could always yell at him, but that probably wouldn't do it justice. He could always wake up Pikachu and have him hit Brock with a thunderbolt. Or he could just wake up Dawn and tell her what Brock suggested. Then again, Brock was still his friend, and as a rule, he did not want to attend a friend's funeral. Suddenly, Ash knew exactly how he would respond.

"It was awesome." He finished getting dressed, got on his hat, and walked over to a tree to relax on until Brock made breakfast.

Brock couldn't even think about making breakfast, though. Did Ash just admit to what he thought he just admitted to? "Are you serious, Ash?"

Ash dared not say anything, in case it would ruin the joke. So instead of answering Brock, he got up and walked over to Dawn's tent. "Hey Dawny-poo." He called out to her, knowing he would have to get her on the joke or risk having Brock go to HIS funeral.

She woke up, groggy. She had heard someone calling out to here, but it didn't sound right. "Dawny-Poo, are you up honey?" She got up when she realized it was Ash calling to her… with a really bad pet name.

"What do you want, Ash?" She called out to him, not awake enough to be annoyed. All of a sudden, the zipper on the tent was being opened and popped in Ash. He quickly hopped into the tent and closed the zipper. So quickly that it took Dawn a few seconds for her to realize what had just happened. Ash had slipped into her tent. HER tent. Before she could even fix her hair. She realized that and gasped. Her hair! She wanted to yell at Ash, but when she turned towards him, she was intrigued by the evil grin on his face.

"What did you do, Ash?"

"Do you trust me?" He asked, ignoring her question.

"Yeah, but I am asking what did you do?"

Ash shook his head. "No, Dawn. Do you really trust me?"

Dawn began to wake up and was awake enough to feel flustered. "Yeah, I trust you Ash. But what di-"She was stopped by Ash shushing her, lifting his finger to her mouth.

"If you trust me, then you need to accept what I told Brock about last night."

Dawn's eyes grew wide. "What did you tell him, Ash? I thought we were supposed to discuss what we say to Brock before we actually say anything."

Ash realized now what exactly he was going to propose and blushed. In his mind, it seemed like a perfect joke, but in practice, it could fall flat on its face. "Well, technically, I didn't say anything, except _it was awesome."_

Dawn stared at him, "Go on…"

"But he did imply that we did something, and I left him believing it." Ash was fully blushing at this point, realizing what he would have to say in a second.

"What does he think?" Dawn was now scared a little at what it could be.

Ash knew he would only be able to say it once, so there had to be no hesitation on his part, or he would stop himself and chicken out. She was just staring at him, and he nearly broke. There was no way he could do it, he thought. No way. No freakin...

"Brock thinks that me and you made love last night and that was why he found us like he found us." If blushing could kill, Ash would be dead after what he just said. He was mostly surprised that he had managed to not trip over his words. All he could hope for was that Dawn would understand what he said the first time, so he didn't have to try to say it again. There was no way he could say it again. Unfortunately for him, she did hear what he said.

She was stunned. Ash let Brock believe that! That! She went to say something, but stopped. She was literally speechless. Calmly as she possibly could, she went to her tent zipper, zipped it open, and pointed her finger out. Ash saw this and understood. He meekly crawled out of the tent, like a dog when they know they did something wrong, and heard the tent zipper zip up behind him. He calmly got up, and ignored the still stunned Brock. He went back to the tree that he was sitting at before and sat back down, He was just going to shut up, and reflected on what he had done.

Why did I just do that? He shook his head. Why for Mew's sake did I just do that! He shifted his legs around, aware that Brock was watching him. It's all his stupid fault, he thought to himself. If he hadn't seen what had happened last night, I never would have had to say anything. Or, he thought, if he hadn't been asking questions so early in the morning, maybe I wouldn't have had that dumb idea to trick Brock. He grumbled to himself, thinking about Dawn. Now she will hate me for sure, letting Brock think that. That is the worst thing of all, that Dawn would hate him. She hated seeing her angry. It would mess up her pretty face. Ash caught himself. Did he just really say Dawn was pretty? He thought about it for a moment. Well, she was pretty, anyone could tell you that. I guess it was ok that he thought of Dawn like that. But was it just because everyone thought that, or did he think that? Before he could begin answering that question, he heard the tent zipper zipping and saw the tent flaps part for Dawn, wearing her typical outfit and hairstyle. She stretched once she got out of the tent and yawned.

"Good morning, Brock." She said as she pulled her arms back to her body. "Good morning, Piplup." She said to her Piplup as it left her tent. "Good morning, Pikachu", she said to the still sleeping Pikachu next to Ash's bag. She then turned to Ash, and said "Good morning, Ash." But it wasn't a typical voice. It was in a voice that he couldn't place. It wasn't mad, but almost… he blushed. That sounded almost seductive. But Ash knew there was no way that could be right. Dawn was supposed to be mad at him, not flirting!

His presumptions proved wrong as Dawn walked towards him. "Thank you for last night. I had a great time, too." Dawn was blushing madly as she said this, but calmed herself down before turning back to Brock. Not until she gave Ash a wink was majorly concerned now. Was she going along with plan, he thought to himself. Impossible, he reasoned. No girl in history would ever go for that plan, would they? Still, Ash smiled. One that Brock (severly) misinterpreted

Brock: Ash…and Dawn? They did it. They really did it? There is no way, but that is the grin of a guy who got some (One I never have had before). That lucky bastard!

Dawn had gone back into her tent and grabbed her bag. She stepped out of her tent, and called to Ash. "Hey, Ash!" Ash turned his head towards her. Dawn blushed, realizing what she was going to imply for the sake of the joke, but it was only a joke, right? "How about we head back into the woods so we can…," she paused on purpose, so Brock would think that she meant something different than, "talk."

Ash was nearly sweating bullets at this point. What was Dawn's game? Whatever it was, Ash knew he had to follow her, in case (improbably) she was going for the plan.

Ash nodded his head, however, and got up. He told Pikachu to stay there, and Dawn told Piplup to do the same. The walked with each other into the woods, Ash confused about his upcoming fate, leaving Brock alone with his thoughts about what he had just been told.

Ash and Dawn… doing that? Right now?

Why couldn't it be him and Nurse Joy?

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><p>I kind of feel sorry for Brock, but I hope you like my newest development. Sorry for the edit, but it was necessary for it to make sense. I know it wasn't great, but it works,Please enjoy and review!<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Well, here is part four of this fan-fiction. It would be good for you to know that I have a clear idea where this is going, as it appears to be a 20 chapter story. There will be visits from past friends, and there will be a few twists that I hope you enjoy. Please, review this chapter and enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon, but it does have a minority share in my life

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><p>Ash and Dawn were walking through the woods, with no clear idea of where they were going. They were just trying to go deep enough into the forest so Brock couldn't overhear them, but they had no idea where that was. Eventually, they found themselves at the same lake shore they had been the night before, the spot where Ash had found her. Ash was still very worried about what was with Dawn, since, in retrospect, he knew she would never let this joke go on.<p>

"Dawn, I hope you aren't mad at me. I thought it would be a funny joke and I thought it would be funny but it wasn't and you deserve to hate me but you shouldn't cause it was only a joke. Ok?" Ash finally finished rambling and turned to Dawn, hopefully with a forgiving look. What he saw instead scared him.

She was holding a mallet. Ash froze when he realized this. _How did she get a mallet? _Ash asked himself. He shuddered; remembering the mallet the Misty used to carry on a regular basis, and May used infrequently. _How did they all know about the mallet?_ Ash just looked at Dawn, who face began to grow with anger. Ash decided to continue the apology and defuse the situation before the mallet was put into play. Of course, he did the exact opposite of an apology.

"Where did the mallet come from, Dawn?" He asked, immediately knowing that was the wrong way to go, but it was too late. He gulped, hoping Dawn would show mercy. She slowly spun the mallet around in her hand, her face now looking down at the mallet. Ash couldn't see her face, which heightened his anxiety.

"Oh, this?" She lifted the mallet only a little bit, but it was still menacing. "Remember when I met May?" Ash nodded, nervously gulping. "She pulled me aside one day, and gave me this. I asked her what it was for, and she told me that it is too be used whenever Ash does something so idiotic, a slap does not do it justice as a punishment. I told her that I would never need it, that Ash could never be that bad. Guess I was wrong." She refused to look into Ash's eyes; rather she looked at the mallet, still turning it in her hand.

Ash kept his eyes on the mallet. "I don't think what I did was THAT terrible." He said, again wanting to shove his foot in his mouth. How did he manage to screw up his apology that badly twice in a row? It had started off so well.

"Really? Not that bad? You don't think what you did was that bad?" Dawn had her eyes off of the mallet and was instead glaring at Ash, waiting for his next screw-up.

Ash wasn't going to let that happen, though. He was going to kept his mouth shut, and not say anything that would fuel Dawn's use of the mallet. He would only talk if she put away the mallet. Dawn realized this, and became very angry. How could Ash not defend himself? She continued.

"In what world do you think that it is ok for Brock to think that I am some slut," She said with emphasis. She didn't want to think like that, but she was so mad at Ash, she couldn't help but think like that," tell me Ash Ketchum. What world are you living in! To let Brock think that I would even think about doing it! What world are you living in, Ash?"

Ash never said a word. He just stayed quiet, and watched Dawn. For some reason, his mind went to how Misty looked when she got mad and pulled out the mallet._ You know, Dawn at least still looks pretty when she does it?_ Ash thought to himself. He would have realized his suprise in thinking like that; if it wasn't at that moment Dawn swung the mallet at his head. Ash had enough experience to dodge the mallet the first time, but he was not quick enough to dodge the mallet when she stopped the momentum going one way, and brought it down onto his head.

POW! The mallet gave Ash a huge bump that could be seen through his hair. Dawn went to hit him for a second time, but stopped herself when she saw Ash wasn't moving. Had she knocked him out? Dawn didn't want to kill him, just punish him for what he had put into motion. She went to check for his pulse, bending down to a low enough level that Ash managed to surprise her and wrangle the mallet from her grasp. Ash quickly got up, and holding the mallet very, VERY tightly, looked at Dawn and her shocked expression. The mallet finally knocked some sense into Ash, and he finally had enough sense to begin apologizing.

"I'm sorry, Dawn. I should have never let Brock thinks what he thinks. We had agreed to talk about what we would tell him, and I ignored our agreement. I was a complete idiot, and you deserve to hate me, but please don't hit me with the mallet again. I hate the mallet." Ash stopped waiting for Dawn's response. She was saying nothing. Ash knew he had to get on Dawn's good side soon, or else she would wrestle the mallet away from him and use it.

"Look Dawn, what I did was wrong. I already said that. It was really, really wrong. Could you please forgive me anyway?" He looked at her, trying to use his puppy dog eyes to his advantage. She wasn't budging, so Ash went on. "Look, let's go back, and I will tell Brock that I was messing with him, and we can just tell him what really happened. No harm, no foul. Right?" Ash looked at Dawn expectantly, hoping that his charms would work.

"No."

Ash was shocked. Did she just say no?

"What are you talking about Dawn? We can go back to camp, and clear this up with Brock, and we can pretend nothing ever happened."

"What? That you saw me naked?" Dawn was very candid, which surprised both herself and Ash.

"Well, I was talking about what Brock thinks what happened last night. But yeah, that too!" Ash blushed thinking about that.

Dawn shook her head. "I wish it was that simple, but… I want to talk about it."

Ash shook his head. "I don't", his face getting redder, "We never have to speak about it again."

Dawn looked up at Ash. She bit her lip, unsure what to say. Finally, she said something. "Then how come, last night, you called me 'beautiful'? You didn't have to say anything, but you did. If you had said nothing, I could have let it go, but, since you said that, I can't." Dawn began to well up, which surprised her. It concerned Ash, and he went into action.

"Dawn," Ash said caringly, as he placed his hand on her shoulder, "it's ok. There is nothing to cry about. So an accident happened. Big deal! But we don't need to get hung up on it. Okay, Dawn."

"Then why did you call me beautiful?" Dawn's eyes were red, as she had been crying throughout his entire speech.

"Dawn." Ash's voice broke. All he could do was pulling in Dawn for a hug, trying to make Dawn feel better. He felt Dawn push her head into his neck and he smiled. Dawn began to hug him and Ash did the same, holding Dawn tight. They stayed like that for a minute, before Ash broke it off. He had a hold of both of her shoulders, as she wiped the tears from her eyes, looking up at him. She was still waiting for his answer.

"Why is it so bad that I called you beautiful?" Ash asked her, innocence in his voice.

Dawn stopped for a moment, unsure how to put the truth into words. So she lied. "Well, I know you are a guy, and you're a teen. And when you are a guy, you do things in private." Ash knew where she was going, and he blushed. "And when you do… those things in private, you tend to think of…girls." Ash understood, though it was very akward.

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?" Ash was blunt. Dawn sighed.

"Well, I don't want to be a girl you think of. When you do that."

"Dawn", Ash spoke to her gently, "No need to worry," Dawn smiled slightly at his use of her catchphrase." You are my friend, and that would just be too weird to ever think of you like that" He sighed and continued on.

"I would never do anthing to purposefully upset you." He told her, smiling. She looked up, happy at hearing that. "I just said it cause... I thought it was guys said if he saw a girl…like that. I would never do anything to hurt my best friend!" Dawn averted her eyes, and muttered thanks. Ash pulled her in for a hug.

"Better now, Dawn?" He asked, reaching out to her. She nods her head, and turns around to Ash.

"Great. Let's go back to camp." She started walking back, but Ash rushed up to her and grabbed her shoulder.

"Wait, what are we going to do about Brock?" Ash asked, with a tad bit of anxiousness in his voice. "Are we just going to tell him the truth?"

Dawn turned back to Ash, and smiled. "Now why would we do that?" Ash turned his head. "It would be really funny to let him think that for a while. Serves him right for thinking like that about little, old, innocent me." She grinned mischievously. "As long as we don't actually SAY we did anything, but we let him believe what he thinks, then I don't mind."

Ash smiled, nodding to Dawn's plan. Ash began to walk away, but Dawn called out to him to hold on. He waited for a second, and turned around to see Dawn with the mallet he had inconspicuously dropped, trying to get Dawn to forget about it.

"Think I would forget about the mallet, now did we Ash?" Ash tried to look innocent, but Dawn was having none of it.

"Even though I am going to go along with it, I still don't like that you started it without my permission. And I don't think one whack is enough of a punishment for what you implied I did without my consent." Dawn's eyes had a crazy look to them, Ash saw the look, so he ran. Dawn chuckled, ready to chase him, but was stopped by her conscience. She felt guilty for lying to Ash about her problem with him calling her "beautiful". It was never that, really. It had a part to do to it, true, but there was a lot more to the problem then just that. She also got embarrassed at what she was going to be implying. She chuckled to herself, thinking 'only for you'.

She was going to contemplate it more, but she saw Ash spying on her from behind a tree. He was trying to see if she was chasing him. She knew her role. She quickly gave chase, running after him with mallet over head, chasing him all the way back to camp.

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><p>Hope you accept the choices i made in this chapter, and enjoyed them. Please review!<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

So here is part 5 of my saga, I hope the delay wasn't too bad. I want to thank Lily Flower for posting this story on , and i want to thank my readers. This chapter is longer then my rest, so i hope that makes you happy. Happy enough to review, perhaps?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, but it owns a bit of me**

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><p>Brock had finished making breakfast, and was waiting quietly for Ash and Dawn to return from their "talk". He was not sure how to honestly feel about the situation. His feelings were all over the place. Where could he begin?<p>

There was a hint of jealousy in his emotions, Brock admitted to himself. Jealous as far as Ash being with a woman instead of him. But that barely scratched the surface of his emotions. He was also happy for Ash. They had traveled together for most of the last 6 years together, and he had never had a girlfriend in all that time. Sure, there were times when he could have had one. Brock was sure that he and Misty should have hooked up years ago. Then, he had heard from Tracey about "Melody", from the Orange Islands. There were also random girls they had met over the years that had showed interest in Ash. Who could forget Macy, Angie, or Anabel, who all were obviously in love with him? It was good that he finally had someone to be with. It was just not natural for a 16yr-old guy to never have had a girlfriend.

He was also happy for Dawn. He knew about her crush on Kenny, and how he had rejected her. They had also talked about her (little) crush on Paul, and Dawn's feelings for liking such a guy. She honestly hated it, since she saw Paul as cold-hearted, and she couldn't believe she would fall for him. Brock had convinced her it was simply a little crush because she thought Paul was 'intriguing' and that she could make him the ideal guy. So he felt happy that she found a guy that liked her as well, and was someone she did not hate liking.

There was disappointment in there, though. Not just in Dawn, but with Ash as well. He was disappointed in Dawn because she was just too young. She was 13 years old, barely old enough to be dating, in Brock's book. And she was already doing that. It was just wrong, in Brock's eyes. He probably wouldn't have cared as much if Ash and Dawn had been obviously together for a while, but this had been out of the blue. The first strong hint there was anything between them was what he has seen last night.

As for Ash… he was mainly disappointed in him for being with their travel companion, and for it being with someone that was only 13. Brock knew that if it ended badly, it would affect the group tremendously. At least, if it was a one-time thing, it would not affect the group and all of them traveling together. Also, he was 16, and it just seemed off of him to be going after a girl that was 3 years younger than him. Though it may not sound like much, Brock knew that 3 years meant a lot more in your teens than your thirties.

Finally, buried in there, was worry. He was worried what would happen if a few select people (Misty, Kenny, Delia, Johanna) would find out. It would end in catastrophe, and them getting into huge trouble. Also, he was worried about if they were being safe. He didn't want to explain why he was traveling around with a pregnant 13 year old girl.

All of these emotions filled Brock as he was making setting up breakfast. He was finally done, and had the meal all set, when he saw Ash running into the camp. He was wondering what was going on, when he saw Dawn give chase with a mallet. Brock had to do a double-take. Weren't they supposed to be 'talking'? What did Ash do that made Dawn mad enough to use a mallet? Or were they just flirting?

KABOP! The mallet hit Ash right on the head. Guess it wasn't flirting then, Brock thought as he watched the scene unfold. He began to chuckle, still confused at what was going on, at Dawn looking over the crumpled Ash. Finally, Dawn and Ash realized Brock was there, and blushed. He had just seen Dawn hit Ash with a mallet, and they were supposed to be… together. How could they make sure that this joke could keep going?

"I told you to not tell Brock anything, you idiot. We were supposed to talk about what we would say to Brock! I thought we agreed that we didn't want Brock to know what was going on!" Dawn yelled at Ash, deciding that the "mostly truth" would be best to use in this situation. Normally, Ash would be fazed, but today his brain was actually working, so he could actually be on it.

"It's not like I walked up to Brock and announced it to him. I had just woken up, Brock started asking questions, I got annoyed, and it kind of… slipped out."

"I would say that I expected you to use a little bit of common sense, Ash Ketchum, but then I remember who I am talking about and realize how unlikely that would actually be.

Brock looked on at the argument, smiling. This, this was normal. He was used to the fighting. But what they were fighting about? His mind was still blown. He realized this was as good a time as any to break up their fight, so he went to work.

"Stop it, Dawn. There is no need to kill Ash." Brock walked over to the two and took the mallet from Dawn, who was in mid-swing. Dawn looked at him, frustrated. All according to the plan.

"Yes there is! You know what he did, and in my book, that's punishable by death!" Dawn glared at Ash as she said this, and winked.

"I still think you are overreacting Dawn." Ash said, in his normal, oblivious self. On any other day, he would really mean that, but todays the neurons in his head were kicking.

Dawn nostrils flared. "Overreacted!" She yelled, and she tried to grab the mallet from Brock, but he hung on. He pulled away from Dawn, and held the mallet over his head.

"Stop it, Dawn. There is no need to hit Ash with the mallet." Brock paused as he said this. Mallet? He looked up at what he was keeping away from Dawn.

"Dawn, how did you know that you punish Ash with a mallet. And where did the mallet come from?" Brock asked, legitimately curious.

Dawn was still "angry", but she explained. "May told me about the possible necessity of using it on Ash when he was REALLY stupid. And she gave me her mallet, since she didn't need it to use on Drew anymore…" Ash interrupted her.

"Wait, May and Drew? Are they together or something?" This was stupid Ash. It surprised Dawn, and got her somewhat angry for real.

"Not right now, you idiot!" She slapped Ash, leaving a bright red mark on his cheek. She went to say something to Brock, but decided against it. So she left in a huff to go back to her tent, to prepare for the day's travels. Brock looked down at Ash, but Ash averted his gaze. Brock shook his head. He wanted to feel sorry for him, but he was still jealous of what Ash had done (in his mind.)

Pikachu had watched the entire spectacle, and was confused with Piplup. They both began to ask the other if they knew what was going on, but decided against it. They just thought if it was important, Ash and Dawn would explain it to them.

Ash crawled over to the food, which he smelled once the mallet headache went away. Brock remembered about the breakfast, so he called out to Dawn to "hurry up for breakfast", and he went to eating. Dawn reluctantly came out of her tent, calmed down, and the 3 companions began to eat their meal in silence. Until Brock asked:

"So how was your talk?"

Ash just looked at Dawn first, and then to Brock. "It wasn't a talk, it was an ambush."

Dawn just glared at Ash. "No, it was a punishment for not doing as you're told."

Brock chuckled. "She sure has you whipped, Ash!" He stopped when he saw both of their vicious glares.

"Shut up, Brock!" They said unanimously, cheeks faintly red when they realized what they did.

Brock just looked onto his plate of food, and continued eating. Ash and Dawn followed suit. There was some more awkward silence, until the million dollar question was raised by Brock.

"So how long have you been doing the deed?"

Dawn dropped her utensil, and raised her eyes at Brock. The look Dawn gave would have scared Misty, he thought to himself. Ash was still oblivious.

"What do you mean, Brock?" Dawn quickly glared at Ash, who had gone back to eating, surprised by his obliviousness. Unless it was part of the act… She looked into his eyes. Her spirits sunk slightly. He was being serious.

Brock realized that the simple metaphor flew over Ash's head, and he had to be more direct about it, while not gaining much more of Dawn's vengeance.

"How long has what happened between you and Dawn last night been going on?" Ash choked on his food that he had been eating in surprise of Brock's question. Brock saw this, and slapped Ash's back until the food cleared his airway.

Meekly, Ash thanked Brock for helping, and then turned to Dawn. He looked at her desperately, asking what they were going to say. Dawn was asking him the same question, but when she realized he was stumped, she thought of the first thing that had popped into her mind.

"It was the first time." Dawn blurted out. Ash nodded his head while staring at Dawn. He liked this route more than the others. And technically they were telling the truth. Brock looked at the duo, trying to figure which follow-up to use next. He decided that he should get more background information before he made his opinion known.

"So, have you two been secretly going out, or was it spur of the moment?" Brock inquired. Ash and Dawn looked at each other, and a weird bonding occurred. Neither knew why, but both knew what the other wanted said.

"To tell you the truth, it was very spur of the moment, Brock." Ash said, turning his head to his friend, but Brock had on a poker face that Ash, or Dawn for that matter, could read.

"So what caused it to happen?" Brock was blunt, still trying to figure out how his two friends managed to go from totally naïve to that in one night.

Dawn looked at Ash desperately, as she was unsure of what to say. It had been easy to say the truth when it fit, and for them both to be on the same page, but a lie? That was a different story. Ash knew what the best response was, though. The truth.

"Well, it happened when I found her without her clothes on on the riverbank." Ash blushed after he was done, surprised at the ease of saying what he said. Dawn smiled, and then frowned. Ash saved the day with an answer, but knew they had to explain why she was naked. Again, the truth was best for this. Dawn began to clarify, but Brock beat her to the punch.

He turned his attention to Dawn. "Why were you naked on the riverbank?" Unlike Ash and Dawn, Brock had no qualms of being blunt on the subject. Dawn glared at him, and then re-began her clarification, now answer.

"I wanted to go swimming, but the bikinis I had on hand didn't work, so I went without." Brock was listening to their answers, but everything didn't add up.

"So where were the clothes you had worn to the riverbank?" This question made them nervous. There was no way that Brock would believe what really happened. Fortunately for them, luck was on their side. Their excuse, the Burmy's that had stolen Dawn's clothing, crossed the road near their campsite so they could get to the forest on the other side. Brock saw them and that they had Dawn's clothing on as their cloaks. Brock chuckled and looked at Dawn and Ash. They shrugged.

"You know, if I didn't just see that, there would be no way I would buy what you were about to say." The duo nodded in agreement. Dawn actually spoke up.

"I mean, what are the odds?" They also began to laugh at the statement. Ash suddenly stopped, and began to think. Brock noticed, and asked him what he was thinking.

"Well," Ash began, "you know how Burmy's evolve based on what they are wearing? If they evolve wearing Dawn's clothing, do they become mini-Dawn's? Or do they just hate people seeing them in the morning without their hair done?" Ash began a hearty laugh, and Brock joined in. Dawn was not pleased.

"Real funny, Ash. At least they will become smarter, too. Smarter than a certain Trainer I travel with, right Piplup?" Dawn turned to her Piplup, who with Pikachu had been eating their breakfast and totally ignoring the human's conversation. Piplup nodded, unsure of what he was agreeing too.

Ash glared at Dawn, who responded by sticking out her tongue. They stayed like that for a few seconds, and began to laugh. This is good, Ash thought to himself. This is a lot better than talking with Brock. However, once the humor stopped, Brock returned to the business at hand.

"Then what happened?" Brock was deadly serious now.

Ash led the way. "Piplup woke me up, and Pikachu told me that Dawn was missing. So, I got up and looked for her. I searched for a while, and eventually found her at the riverbank. She didn't do anything to cover herself, so I asked what was wrong. As it turns out, she scared a Gloom and it paralyzed her. So I stayed with her until she got some feeling back in her body." Dawn nodded. But they both knew that their luck in being able to tell the truth was done for. How would they answer's Brock next probable question.

"So how did that turn into that?" Brock face had not changed, as he was entirely focused on listening to the couple. Ash was unsure of what to say, but Dawn had an idea. She knew she could use the truth one more time.

"He told me that I was beautiful. I think… that may have been it. It didn't help that he began to strip, offering his clothes to cover me." Dawn bit her lip, hoping Brock would not ask her anymore. They had promised never to directly admit it to Brock, and there was no way she ever would. If Brock had pushed, she would have cracked, and the joke would be up. However, Brock didn't, so the joke lived on. They finished their breakfast in peace, and packed up, getting ready for the walk back to where they were supposed to be going.

Dawn grabbed Ash's hand as they began to walk. Ash was confused as to way, as was Pikachu and Piplup, who walked next to them. Dawn whispered in Ash's ear. "It is to make the joke seem more real." Ash didn't think it would, but he didn't mind holding Dawn's hand. Though Dawn knew she had just lied to Ash again, she didn't feel guilty. In fact, as they walked hand and hand behind Brock, it felt right.

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><p>Did you enjoy? Good. FYI, old friends are showing up next chapter, so i hope you are prepared for trouble! Please review!<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry about the long, really long delay in between the two parts. I was in the middle of writing two other fics, plus a third one on the way taht will be about a little used shipping on this site. I have a quite a few others on the way, including ones that expand the story _Fears _universe. I didn't expect it to go where it did, and story might be shorter than the 20 chapters previosuly stated, but I like it so be happy! Enjoy and review! And read my other stories!

**Disclaimer: I own not Pokemon, but it has a minority interest in my well being**

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><p>The two walked hand in hand for hours back up the road, under Brock's watchful eye. Brock, despite his objections to the entire situation, was happy to see that this had inspired romance, and not some mutual hatred. He had seen both occur in his life, and the latter was far from pretty. He had decided that they were a cute couple, and that it was a good match. Brock still thought that Misty was the best for Ash, but if he wanted to be with Dawn, Brock couldn't blame him. The more Brock thought about it, the more he began to sulk. He was becoming depressed in the presence of them. Ash went all the way with no effort, but he only got a few steps towards first before Croagunk would hit him with a Poison Jab, or Max pulling him by the ear, or by Misty and her ear-pulling. Dawn noticed Brock's depression and grew concerned.<p>

"What's wrong, Brock?" Dawn broke away from Ash's hand and caught up with Brock. She ran in front of him, and looked at him, concern written on her face. Brock looked away. Dawn followed where his head went. Brock looked away again, and Dawn followed. They played this game for a few seconds, before Brock gave in. He sighed, and looked up at Dawn, and then to Ash.

"I'm jealous."

"What?" Ash and Dawn asked incredulously. They looked at each other. Brock, jealous of them?

"I'm jealous of you two. I have been trying for six years on the road with Ash to get a girl to like me, and I have been denied literally hundreds of times. I have been denied by breeders, by Officer Jenny's and Nurse Joy's, by trainers and gym leaders, and everyone in between. Yet Ash gets all the girls with no problem, and has a girlfriend before me!" Brock went into "Professor Ivy" depression mode, much to the chagrin of Ash and Dawn. Ash then realized what Brock had just said, and was surprised.

"What do you mean by that?" Ash was talking about the girlfriend part, but Brock assumed he meant about the girls. He got up and looked at Ash, still blue (literally).

"You never realized it, did you? I mean, I could kind of understand with Misty. You were still young enough for oblivious to count, even though it was obvious to everyone that she was madly in love with you. Then there was the fan girl Macy, who drooled over you. And I heard from Tracey about the Melody girl on that island. And what about Anabel, the Salon Battle Frontier girl? That one was pretty obvious. And do you remember Angie? Her parents were pretty much trying to get the two of you married!" At the thought of that, Dawn grew visibly angry. Sure, it had been building when she heard of all of the other girls heart's that Ash had won, but remembering the one that she was there for, Angie, broke it from the realm of the mental. Brock didn't notice this change in Dawn and had kept going. "It is just really unfair. I only want a freakin' date, maybe a kiss. You can get laid with no effort!" Brock screamed the last part, and both Ash and Dawn were very thankful they were in the middle of nowhere.

Dawn intervened. "Brock, just calm down. You just haven't found the right girl for you. And I'm sure you have had a few girls that had a crush on you!" Brock just shook his head, Ash broke in.

"What about that one girl! In Johto! You tried to help her with some pokémon, I think it was a Marill or something, and she really liked you! She was rich and stuff." Ash just mumbled, trying to think of other situations so he could cheer up Brock. Brock fell back into a blank mode after remembering her. Ash knew it was working, and went searching through his memory bank.

"And…uh… Lucy!" Ash's eyes grew wide. "You know, Lucy, from the Battle Frontier! It looked like she liked your flirting, and liked you!" Ash hoped that would be enough, since they were the only ones he could remember.

They were. Brock went into a weird trance as he remembered the girls that liked him back. It shut him up about the duo, which was always a good thing, but there was something he had said that really worried Ash. Brock had been blatant when talking about Ash, saying he got laid. What if he became blatant about what he asked? Could they really just keep pretending, or would they have to give up the joke. The joke…

Ash began to think about it. Was it really a joke? He felt Dawn's hand grabbed his, and he smiled as he looked up to his partner in the joke. He smiled at her, and she blushed. What was that about? Ash thought to himself. Why did she blush? Ash shook off that thought, getting to the one that had crept into his mind before her distraction. Was this really a joke? He thought to himself, what is the payoff? Normally, when Ash pranked someone, the result was to get a laugh. Like when he put his Caterpie in Misty's sleeping bag that one time, it was meant to scare her, and make her scream, so he could laugh. Or when he had put peanut butter in May's bandana as she was sleeping. Those were funny at the end. But this? There wasn't really a payoff for this joke. What was funny in revealing to Brock that 'Hey, me and Dawn never did anything with each other!' Brock wouldn't have a funny reaction, like being shocked or scared, but probably relieved. And why was Dawn really in on the joke? She said it was to punish Brock for thinking badly of her, but Ash realized that made no sense. How do you punish someone for thinking badly of you, by going along with the idea that made him think badly of you? Ash pondered all this, and was getting ready to tell Dawn about his concerns when he was surprised by a sudden hole in the ground, and him falling into it. Ash hit the ground, with a thud. He shook it off, having been through worse. Then he heard a moan next to him, and saw Dawn, who had landed on her exposed legs, and had been cut up badly. She began to moan in pain, and Ash reflexively pulled Dawn in, trying to comfort her. Brock was already up and helping Piplup and Pikachu get up too. Once Dawn calmed down, but not letting go, Ash looked up. Really? He thought to himself. You really had to follow us into the middle of nowhere? That is when the motto began.

"Listen, is that a voice I hear?"

"It's speaking to me loud and clear."

"Melting on the wind…"

"Past the stars…."

"And in ya' ear!"

Dawn clenched her teeth. That is what I get for not wearing pants, she thought to herself. She was able to switch the grimace to a grin, though, since Ash was holding her, comforting her. She pulled Ash in a little more, and Ash bent to her. She then looked up at the three figures that had dug the pit. They just kept saying their motto.

"Jesse!"

"James!"

"And Meowth, now dat's a name"

"Putting the do-gooders in their place…"

"…Team Rocket…"

"In ya' face!"

"Wobbuffet!"

"Mime! Mime!"

Team Rocket looked down at the trio and smirked. Right where they wanted them, the group thought to themselves. They began to look around on the surface, but were obviously displeased in what they DIDN'T see.

"Hey twerps! Where is your Pikachu! We would even take the bluenette's Piplup?" Jesse screamed into the hole!"

"Yeah, where are they?" James screamed in his own way. "We have been tracking you guys for days now, so I think we've earned that Pikachu!"

"That's right!" Meowth put in his two cents.

All Dawn could think about was the "tracking for days" line. "What do you guys mean you've been tracking us for days?"

James began to think. "All the standard stuff. Watching where you have been, keep close eyes on you, video cameras, the usual."

All the color drained from Dawn's face. "How big of an area were you from filming last night?"

"Just your campsite. Why do you ask?" James questioned the pale Dawn. Ash was still confused at Dawn's paleness.

"What's wrong, Dawn. Why does it matter if Team Rocket filmed us… last…night?" Ash realized what that meant, and the color on his face drained. "Oh, crap!"

Jesse looked at the two smiling. "So, there is something the two of you didn't want filmed last night? I wonder what it could have been? Do you have any ideas James? Meowth?"

"Ooohhh. Maybe they kissed!" James cooed.

"I don't think the twerp even knows what a kiss is, do you twerp?" Meowth began to laugh at the joke that he had made.

Jesse chuckled. "Let's grab Pikachu and the backpack. It probably has some pokeball in it."

Out of nowhere, Meowth pulled out a box with a glove attached to it. He pressed a button on the box, and sent it out, and he grabbed the backpack and Pikachu from the trio in the pit. Ash cried out in surprise, and reached out for his Pikachu and his bag, but missed. The hand retracted back to Team Rocket, who quickly put Pikachu in a glass jar. Then, James began to rummage through Ash's backpack.

"Hey, stop that! Stop going through my backpack! You won't find any pokémon in it, so cut it out!"

James grabbed a few things from it, and stuck them in his pocket. "Maybe so, but these are just a few bottle caps you happen to have, and they will go nicely in my collection." He threw the bag down to Ash. "But we will be taking Pikachu. Have a good day!" James and the rest of Team Rocket left, Pikachu in hand.

"No, you don't!" Ash yelled. "Go, Chimchar, use flame wheel on Team Rocket." Ash threw up his pokeball and Chimchar flew out and immediately began his flame wheel, and he quickly caught up to the fleeing trio and knocked them over. Jessie landed on her butt and got especially mad.

"How dare you, twerp! Seviper, go!" She sent out her snake pokémon, but Ash was having none of it. He was pushing Brock out of the hole when he called out. "Hit Seviper with another flame wheel!"

"Seviper, dodge it!" Jessie called out, but it was too late. Chimchar hit Seviper and sent him flying into the trio, causing them to accidentally release Pikachu, who, without Ash's orders, knew what to do.

"PIIIIII-KAAAAAA-CCHHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" He yelled, sending out a powerful thunderbolt that sent Team Rocket flying.

"We'll never get Pikachu!" Jessie complained.

"They will just blast us off!" moaned Meowth. James didn't say anything, until it was time to say:

"Looks like Team Rocket's blastin' off again!" "Wobbuffet!"

Ash finally managed to push Dawn out of the hole, and got her to pull him out. Once Ash gathered his wits, he pulled Dawn over to him. He gave her a huge hug, to the surprise of Dawn.

"Are you ok, Dawn? Does your leg still hurt? Don't worry, it will be okay." Ash gave her a kiss on the forehead, and pulled her head into his chest. "Don't worry, Dawn. You will be okay."

Brock watched the scene, touched. Ash did really care for Dawn. The way he held her, the way he treated her. That was love. He smiled warmly at the two. He decided then that he was okay with whatever was going on in between the two. His friend had earned his trust over the years, so he decided to trust him with Dawn.

In Dawn's head, there was just chaos. Ash showed that he was really worried. Really worried. Sure, he had always been protective of her, but this was on a new level. And he had kissed her! Sure, it was on the forehead, but that was still a kiss. She just didn't know what to think. This was supposed to be an act, but it felt like, something different was occurring. She smiled.

Ash thought about if Dawn was ok. It wasn't until she pulled away from his hug that he realized what he had done. The weird thing was, it felt totally natural to him. It wasn't anything forced, anything that was part of the act. It felt natural. He looked into Dawn's eyes, and gave an apologetic look.

"Thanks for caring, Ash. It does still hurt." She turned to Brock. "Could you get the bandages and disinfectant? Thanks a lot." She turned back to Ash as Brock looked through his bag for the supplies.

"What the heck was that?" She mouthed to Ash. He shrugged.

"I don't know." He mouthed back. And he really didn't know.

Brock called out to Dawn. "Found them Dawn! Come over here, and let me help you with that." Dawn nodded, and left Ash to his thoughts.

Ash didn't know why he had kissed Dawn. He was still thinking about that. He had been kissed before, but he never had given a kiss. He began to wonder what that kiss had meant to Dawn. Whenever he had been kissed before, there was a reason. When his mom kissed him, it was out of a maternal love. When Melody had kissed him, he learned from Tracey that she was flirting with him. And when Bianca…or Latias… whichever one kissed him did it as a thank-you for all he had done. He knew kisses could mean other things too. But what was Dawn thinking about his? He found himself oddly apprehensive about finding out.

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><p>I don't know when the next chapter will be out, but don't expect it to be soon. Hope you enjoyed! Please review!<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

Please don't kill me. I'm sorry that it took so long, but I wasn't uber-motivated to write this. I still am going to write it, and I think it is good, but it won't be a weekly update. I hope you like this chapter, because I did put a bunch of work into it. I hope you like the developments in this chapter. Please read my other works as well, and review

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, but It owns a little piece of me. My left big toe. Don 't ask why.

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><p>Ash suddenly remembered James digging through his backpack, and he quickly dug through it. He looked for the important stuff first, and then anything else he could think of being in there. When he was convinced that everything that was supposed to be there was there, he sighed in relief. James must have been telling the truth about finding a few random bottle caps in his bag. He had an eerie eye for bottle caps, so Ash just ignored his taking of them. He zipped up the backpack and swung it onto his back. Then he felt a tug on his pants. He looked down, and saw it was Pikachu. Ash bent down to his level, and petted his head.<p>

"Good job with Team Rocket, Pikachu. And don't worry, they didn't steal anything important from my backpack." Pikachu just stood there, unaffected by the affection.

'Pikapi?' Pikachu had a confused look on his face.

"Yeah, Pikachu." Ash was intently listening.

'Why did you just kiss Dawn?' Pikachu asked.

Ash's face became blushed. "Um, I was trying to make her feel better because she got hurt."

'Maybe, but you never kissed Misty or Brock or May or anyone else if they are hurt.' Pikachu looked at Ash intently. Ash didn't respond to him, so he continue.'What did Brock mean when he said you got laid with Dawn?"

Ash bit his inner lip, and broke into a smile. Pikachu didn't know what he had meant. "Nothing, Pikachu. Nothing."

Pikachu quickly responded.'Liar.'

Ash shook his head. "Really, it's nothing."

Pikachu just smiled. "Brock told me once he wanted to get laid. I asked him what he meant. He said it meant to mate. Did you and Dawn mate?" Ash froze. He was going to kill Brock once he talks to him about it. He was not sure of what to say to his little buddy, so he just stood there.

Standing a few yards away, Piplup overheard the entire conversation. He didn't know what anything meant until the end, about his master and Ash mating. At that news, he got really mad. He walked up to Pikachu, knowing that Ash didn't understand him, and gave Pikachu a message to give to Ash.

Pikachu was shocked at what Piplup had to say. Piplup motioned for him to tell Ash, so Pikachu took a gulp and told a wary Ash, 'Piplup says if you mated with Dawn, he will peck you to death. Dawn is too young to have an egg.' Pikachu giggled at the thought of it,knowing he would have to explain to Piplup how exactly humans carry children. He really didn't want to, but he thought it was funny

Piplup yelled Pikachu for giggling, but Ash wasn't focused on them. He was trying to figure out why Pikachu found that funny, and what to say to the pair of Pokemon that knew. He could easily deny it, but he knew that Pikachu would then ask Brock what he meant, and Brock had known Pikachu long enough to understand him and would tell him the truth as he knew it. He could try to tell them now, but Brock might overhear them. He had to explain it to them, but in private.

'We will talk about it later.' Pikachu and Piplup looked shocked. The fact he didn't deny it immediately was enough for them.

'You mated with Dawn?' Pikachu was shocked at his Pikapi. He thought he would end up as the mate of Pikachupi, not Dawn. He didn't know he was even interested in Dawn.

Piplup was stunned, growing furious. Slowly, his beak increased in size as he prepared for a Peck attack.

'Die Ash Ketchum!' He jumped out at Ash, going for the jugular. Ash jumped back, scared out of his mind. He put his hands up, trying to protect himself

"Piplup, return."

Ash waited for the Peck attack that never came. He sighed in relief that it never occurred. Eventually, he put his hands down and gave a nervous giggle. He looked to see Dawn with Piplup's pokeball in her hand. She had a wrap around her knee, to cover all the scratches. She was giggling.

"What did you do to Piplup to make him that mad?" Dawn was trying to cover her giggle, but it was pointless. She found it funny that Piplup had gotten mad. It was actually cute.

Ash gave her a stern look. "No, I didn't do anything."

Dawn kept up the giggling. "Then why was he mad?"

Ash sighed, looking over at the watching Brock, who had seen Piplup's attempted attack. "Pikachu overheard Brock, and asked me about it. Piplup overheard him and got mad."

Dawn's giggle stopped. "Oh," She looked down at the pokeball, "I guess we need to have a talk."

Ash shook his head. "I think we should talk about it with him and Pikachu. That way they both get the same story, and there is no confusion between the two. Alright?" Dawn nodded. "Good. Let's talk about it tonight." Dawn agreed with him, understanding everything Ash was trying to do. She understood that they would have to tell their Pokemon in private what was going on, and get them in on the joke. Quickly, the group adjusted to the Team Rocket distraction and began their hike back to the "correct" road.

Her and Ash kept holding hands in order to keep up the façade. Dawn sighed thinking about it. The façade. She was still rally uncomfortable about it, no matter how gung-ho she had seemed about going forward with it. She was only 13 for god sake! There was no way she would do that with Ash right now. She was surprised unexpected amendment to the sentence, 'right now'. Did that mean she actually wanted to do it with Ash? She knew she … but thinking about that? She blamed it on circumstance.

And the kiss. He kissed her! Sure it had only been on the forehead, but she couldn't help but shiver at it. It was the first time she had been kissed, and it was by him. She hated that such a little thing could get her so worked up, but it was unexpected. Oddly enough, she could help but wonder her forehead tasted like. Probably like her shampoo.

Her thoughts tended to ramble.

Ash's mind kept going back to wondering the purpose of the joke. It was probably obvious, really obvious, but he couldn't think of it. He knew he should just ask Dawn, but for some reason he didn't want to hear the answer. Weird, huh? He was wondering why he was doing something, but didn't want to hear the explanation. He felt like he would be disappointed if he found out.

His mind suddenly began to wonder what happened if people other than them found out, and he began to get scared mentally. His face didn't show it, but he was scared. His thoughts first wondered to Dawn's mother, and his thoughts immediately went to castration. He only knew what it was because Misty used it as a threat when she got super duper mega angry, and he involuntarily convulsed at the thought of it. He tightened his grip with Dawn's hand, enough so that it hurt. She noticed, and looked up at him.

"Sorry about that. Just a bad thought" Ash whispered.

"About what?"

Ash grimaced. "If your mother found out about what we are letting Brock think."

Dawn's eyes went wide. "That would be bad. Very bad."

"Do you know what castration is?" Ash asked her. He knew she was a tad young too know, but he felt like he needed to express his fears to someone.

"No."

Ash made sure no one, not even Pikachu was listening, when he told Dawn. "It's when a guy's manhood is cut off. I thought that might be your mom's reaction, so I got scared."

Dawn's eyes somehow went wider. She couldn't help but look at where Ash's manhood was and say, "Owww."

Ash nodded. "Your mom finding out is worse case scenario."

Dawn tore her eyes from Ash's zipper region. "What do you think would happen if your mom find out?"

Ash thought about it for a minute. "She wouldn't be mad, but really disappointed. Like, really disappointed."

"Why wouldn't she be mad?"

Ash sighed, taking another minute to try and find his words. "Getting mad would make my mom a hypocrite." Ash gave Dawn a look to drop the subject, and she understood.

They kept on walking, talking to Brock about Ash's next badge and what supplies to get in the next town, Then, Dawn remembered about the camera problem.

"Fuck."

Ash and Brock both looked at her, completely surprised at Dawn's mouth. She never cussed, not even the mildly bad words like 'ass' and 'damn'. They got worried really fast.

"What's wrong Dawn?" Brock asked first.

"I just remembered Team Rocket has video of me and Ash returning to the campsite."

Ash gave a painful gulp. "Oh, right. Not good."

Dawn looked up hopefully at Ash and Brock. "Should we look for them and destroy the evidence?" Brock went into deep thought.

He finally shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I doubt they were using great video cameras, so the quality would be so bad that they wouldn't be able to tell what is happening. And we have no clue which way they flew when Chimchar blasted them off, so it would just get us more lost."

Dawn and Ash looked uneasily at each other, but decided to agree with Brock. The breeder knew what he was talking about usually, as long as it wasn't about girls. With that settled, they began their walk, Ash and Dawn hand in hand.

Not much was said as they continue their walk into evening, still seeing no one. It made Ash feel really dumb, that no one went of course like he had. Brock kept his eye on the map, making sure that they wouldn't get lost again. As the sun finally fell, Brock turned to the duo following him.

"Since the sun is going down, I think we should set up camp here. Because of a few pit stops, we are a bit farther back then I wanted to be, but we should be back where we want to be by tomorrow night, and will hopefully get to go a good bit on the correct road." He glanced at Ash again, driving in the point.

Ash face palmed with his free hand. "Come on, I thought you would be over this by now. I am sorry I got us lost, it was an accident. Can we please get off of the blame-Ash game, and set up camp."

Brock reluctantly agreed. So they split up, and each took their jobs to set up their camp. Dawn set up tents, Ash got a fire going, and Brock set up dinner so that they could eat. Everything went off without a hitch, and dinner went by normally, no question coming from Brock to the two. Eventually Brock left to head to the river so he could get clean, as he felt especially dirty. Ash and Dawn took this as an opportunity to talk to their pokémon, and Ash saw it as an opportunity to get a good reason to continue this ruse. Dawn released Piplup from his pokeball, and he was beamed to the ground. The second he was solid, he set up his Peck attack and jumped at Ash, still intent on killing his master's mate.

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><p>Again, please review<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

Okay, so here is the update. I wish I could say I worked hard and endlessly on this chapter, but it was the effort of fourty five minutes of inspiration, and knowing this story needed an update. I had not planned the twist in this chapter, and hope that everyone finds it acceptable. Sorry about the overall lack of updates, I, despite my lack of favorite stories, have probably read more fanfiction in a week than most people do in 2 months, so that is that. So...enjoy!

disclaimer: Who ever said I owned Pokemon is a dirty filthy well appreciated liar

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><p>Quickly, on Ash's behalf, Piplup was cut short by an Iron Tail by Pikachu. He had suspected that his blue penguin friend would try to kill his master again, and stood ready. Piplup grabbed its head where it had been hit, and glared at Pikachu. His anger had temporarily refocused onto Pikachu, so he was the recipient of a Bubblebeam attack. Pikachu jumped over the bubbles and began yelling at Piplup. Piplup yelled back, and a fight was about to commence when Dawn interfered.<p>

"Pikachu, Piplup, get a hold of yourselves! You can act better than this! Pikachu, no attacking Piplup. And Piplup, no attacking Pikachu OR Ash. Understood?" Piplup responded with a weak "Pip", bowing to the authority of Dawn. Piplup turned back to Ash and simply glared at the trainer. Ash let out a cough, and began to speak.

"Me and Dawn here want to talk about what you two heard earlier. About me and Dawn… having sex. And we just want to tell you guys that nothing like that happened, alright? There was a misunderstanding between us and Brock."

Piplup interrupted at that last part. 'Misunderstanding? Pardon my Hoenn, but what the fuck! How did that happen.'

Honestly, Dawn began to giggle. It was cute that Piplup had cursed like that. She had no room to complain, with her dropping the f-bomb multiple times in the last 24 hours, so she could only think it was cute. Ash was perplexed.

"Um, Dawn, what did he say? And why are you giggling?"

Dawn managed to get herself under control." He is wondering how that could be misunderstood."

"And the giggling?"

"He said the f-word."

Ash began to laugh at that. Sure, Charizard would have cussed at him if he could, and Totodile had let of expletives once in a while not understanding them, and his Bayleef had once said something so naughty to him he passed out for a week, but it was still so funny whenever a Pokemon said a bad word. Piplup was shooting daggers at him, so he stopped.

"Well, last night, Dawn here had an accident at the lake, and ended up losing all of her clothes." Ash started to explain.

'All of them?' Piplup asked, shocked.

'Even the never touchy girly ones?' Pikachu asked, remembering what Misty had once said to Ash when he found her training bra mixed in with his clothes. Brock managed to save Ash from death, if he could recall directly.

Ash understood what Pikachu meant, and could guess what Piplup was saying, so he nodded. "Yeah, all of them. So I found her like that, and I had to bring her back to the camp," Ash blushed at the memory, "without them. I let her borrow my shirt, so it was less awkward. When we got back, Brock saw us and assumed that was what had happened."

'Why didn't you tell him otherwise?' Piplup asked, confused.

Dawn grimaced. "Because idiot over here got grilled this morning and pretty much told Brock that his suspicions were right."

Piplup was preparing a Bubblebeam attack, but remembered Dawn's orders. His shoulder slumped over, and he followed up, 'Why didn't you correct him this morning, and say Ash was lying?'

To Ash (who had been getting translations from Pikachu), this was the million dollar question. Why did she play along? Dawn blushed nervously, and began. "I was mad at Brock for thinking like that, so I decided we would play along until we could get back at Brock."

'How?' Piplup asked, almost naively, almost as if the answer was so easy, a caveman could solve it.

But it wasn't.

Dawn began to fumble over her words, trying find an answer, but her fumbling was damning. It finally clicked in Ash's mind.

"You have no idea what you were trying to do, were you?

Dawn hung her head, her lie being seen through, falling apart. But through those cracks, a new plan emerged. One with a clear answer, and a way out.

"No, I wasn't. But now, Brock thinks we had sex, and probably wouldn't believe us if we say we didn't, so what do we do?"

"I don't know." Ash answered honestly, having no idea what to do in this situation. A small, perverted, Brock infested portion of his personality was telling him to say "Let's make his thoughts real", but it was easily banished. "Should we just pretend it never happened?"

Dawn shook her head. "Brock would never let it go. He would bring it up at all the wrong times, and it would be a disaster."

Ash thought for a second. "Get him to promise to never speak of it again?"

Dawn nodded her head. "That might work." Inwardly, she was cursing herself, her plan falling though before it had a chance to begin. Then, a branch of hope appeared. "But I don't want to make it look like it was some one night stand thing. I don't want Brock to think I am that type of girl, and might do that with someone else, like Kenny or Paul, or even," she shivered violently, "Conway. So I think we should make it look like we are together."

Ash could only understand half of what she meant, but it was enough. "Um, okay. So we are going to be going out, pretending?"

Dawn thought about his words, and shook them off. "No, I don't think we are good enough actors to pull that off. What about…" She flashed a grin to herself, about to spring her plan, " we get together for real."

Ash's jaw dropped. "What?"

Dawn pretended to be fidgeting, to appear nervous, when she was cheering internally." I mean, we could be like boyfriend and girlfriend… for practice. So we are 'together', but no one feelings get hurt if we really like someone else. Also, it is good practice for how to act when we get a real boyfriend and girlfriend. Because I know Ash, that you don't have a single romantic bone in your body." Dawn managed to end the comment light- heartedly, but the seriousness of it was all that Ash was thinking about.

The idea of Dawn being a girlfriend appealed to Ash. It had never really done so before, but it did now. He began to reflect into himself how he should take the offer, and quickly came to a conclusion.

"Yeah, that sounds neat." He grinned

Dawn's grin easily was double his in size. Her planned work! Ash was her boyfriend. "Well, that is good to hear, boyfriend."

Ash nodded, and began to look at Dawn. He felt there was something he was supposed to do in the situation, but he could not consciously think what it was. Unconsciously, his face moved towards hers.

Dawn froze as Ash's face drew closer, eventually an inch or two away from Dawn. She looked into Ash's eyes, who was as shocked and surprised as she was. She expected him to, now aware of his surrounding, pull away. Though this was Ash.

So instead, his lips gently met hers for half a second, and then left.

Ash began to rub the back of his neck, shocked at his own actions. His only defense was what he told her. "That is what boyfriends do, right?" He was unsure how this whole dating thing worked, but he knew enough that kissing on the lips was important. And this was important to him.

All Dawn could do was nod. Her brain had shut down in shock. Ash had kissed her. On the lips. She slowly raised her hand to her lips, touching them gently, shocked by the development, a huge blush growing on his face.

Piplup's little mind could not comprehend what just happened. If it could, it would have exploded.

Pikachu had a better balance of the situation, but was still stunned.

Brock, who had returned in time to see the kiss and the reactions could just smile, the feeling happy the only word on his mind. He was happy for them. He also knew, however, that he wanted to be the killjoy.

"Hey, no need for that here. I don't care what you guys have already done, I don't want any of that happening when I'm around."

Ash's face turned tomato red, and Dawn honestly fainted. It was too much for her little heart to bear, ranging from the joy to the embarrassment. But for her, it was absolutely worth it.

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><p>Hope their feelings are clear, and you enjoyed this chapter. Please review!<p> 


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